Audio device and storage medium

ABSTRACT

An audio device transfers voice data which requests playback, generated by a user to a portable player. The portable player performs voice recognition of the transferred voice data. Control for playback start is started in accordance with the content as the result of the voice recognition. The audio device starts monitoring for a playback state of the portable player. If the start of the playback operation is detected within a predetermined period, an output source of sound to be output is changed to the portable player.

RELATED APPLICATION

The present application claims priority to Japanese Patent ApplicationNumber 2012-286576, filed Dec. 28, 2012, the entirety of which is herebyincorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a technology of controlling an outputoperation for playback sound of a portable player of an audio device inwhich the portable player can be installed as one of plural audiosources.

2. Description of the Related Art

As an audio device in which a portable player can be installed as one ofplural audio sources, there is known an audio device that includes adisplay device, an input device, and an audio output unit such as aspeaker or an audio amplifier, receives an operation of the connectedportable player from a user through a user interface using the displaydevice and the input device, controls a playback operation of theportable player, and outputs playback sound input from the connectedportable player through the audio output unit (for example, JapaneseUnexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-175685, JapaneseUnexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2006-48867).

Also, as a technology of controlling a playback operation of an audiodevice that performs a playback output of a song, there is known atechnology of voice control that recognizes voice generated by a userand controls a playback operation of an audio device in accordance withthe content as a result of voice recognition (for example, JapaneseUnexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2005-85433).

In the above-described audio device in which the portable player can beinstalled as one of the audio sources, if the connected portable playeris controllable by voice generated by the user, the generated voice ofthe user received by a microphone included in the audio device may betransferred to the portable player and hence the portable player may becontrolled by the voice control.

However, in this case, since the audio device cannot recognize thecontent of control made on the portable player by voice control, theaudio device cannot perform an operation that matches the controlcontent of the portable player by the voice control.

That is, for example, when the audio device outputs sound of an audiosource (for example, radio) other than the portable player, if the userperforms voice control that causes the portable player to start aplayback operation, it is proper to perform an operation of changing thesound to be output to sound that is output by the portable player.However, the audio device cannot recognize whether the content of voicecontrol is control of starting a playback operation of the portableplayer or control of some other operation not relating to the playbackoperation. Thus, the audio device cannot perform a proper operation.

SUMMARY

Accordingly, an object of embodiments of the present invention is toallow an audio device, which transfers received generated voice of auser to a portable player and performs voice control of the portableplayer, to perform an operation that matches the control content by thevoice control of the portable player.

To attain the object, an embodiment of the present invention provides anaudio device and a portable player that is connectable to the audiodevice, the portable player being controllable by voice control. Theaudio device includes a sound output unit that outputs sound, the soundsource of which is a currently used audio source; a source selectionunit that selectively sets one of a plurality of audio source devices asthe currently used audio source; a microphone; and a control voiceprocessing unit. If the portable player is connected, the sourceselection unit causes the portable player to be included in theplurality of audio source devices as one of the audio source devices,and selectively sets one of the plurality of audio source devicesincluding the portable player as the currently used audio source. If theportable player is set as the currently used audio source, the soundoutput unit outputs sound to be transferred to the audio device from theportable player. The control voice processing unit, if the portableplayer is connected, transfers voice data of generated voice input fromthe microphone to the portable player, and causes the portable player toperform voice control by the voice of the voice data transferred to theportable player. Also, the control voice processing unit acquires astate of the portable player after the voice control is performed fromthe portable player, and causes the source selection unit to set theportable player as the currently used audio source in accordance withthe acquired state.

With such an audio device, to be specific, the control voice processingunit may acquire a playback state of the portable player as the stateafter the voice control is performed from the portable player, determinewhether or not a playback operation of the portable player is started bythe voice control, and if the playback operation of the portable playeris started, cause the source selection unit to set the portable playeras the currently used audio source.

Also, the control voice processing unit may determine that the playbackoperation of the portable player is started by the voice control if theplayback operation of the portable player is started within apredetermined period after the control voice processing unit causes theportable player to perform the voice control.

Also, the control voice processing unit may determine that the playbackoperation of the portable player is started by the voice control if theplayback state of the portable player is changed from non-playback toplayback within a predetermined period after the control voiceprocessing unit causes the portable player to perform the voice control.

The control voice processing unit may control start of playback of theportable player from the beginning of an audio content during playbackby the portable player, if the playback operation of the portable playeris started by the voice control. Alternatively, the control voiceprocessing unit may control the portable player to start playback of anaudio content during playback by the portable player from a playbacktime position which is shifted by a predetermined time toward thebeginning from a current playback time position of the audio content, ifthe playback operation of the portable player is started by the voicecontrol.

With the above-described audio device, the state of the portable playerafter the voice control is performed is acquired from the portableplayer, and the portable player can be set as the currently used audiosource in accordance with the acquired state. Accordingly, in the audiodevice, a change operation of the currently used audio source to theportable player, the operation of which matches the control content ofthe voice control performed by the portable player, can be performed.

For example, in the audio device, the playback state of the portableplayer is acquired from the portable player as the state after the voicecontrol is performed, it is determined whether or not the playbackoperation of the portable player is performed by the voice control, andthe source selection unit sets the portable player as the currently usedaudio source if the playback operation of the portable player isstarted. Accordingly, when the user performs voice control for the startof the playback operation on the portable player through the audiodevice, the sound to be output can be automatically changed to the soundthat is output by the portable player.

The above-described configuration of the audio device may be similarlyapplied to a content output device that outputs a content such as videocontent instead of sound.

As described above, in the audio device in which the received generatedvoice of the user is transferred to the portable player and hence thevoice control of the portable player is performed, the operation thatmatches the control content of the voice control of the portable playercan be performed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an audio systemaccording to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing control voice reception processingaccording to the embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 3 is a sequence diagram showing an operation example of an audiosystem according to the embodiment of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

An embodiment of the invention is described below.

FIG. 1 shows a configuration of an audio system according to thisembodiment. As illustrated, the audio system includes an audio device 1and a portable player 2 connectable to the audio device 1.

The audio device 1 is, for example, a device mounted in a vehicle. Asillustrated, the audio device 1 includes an input device 101, a displaydevice 102, a microphone 103, a speaker 104, a sound input/output device105 that performs inputting of voice by using the microphone 103 andoutputting of sound to the speaker 104, a device interface 106 that isan interface used for connection with the portable player 2, a controlunit 107, a media player 108, a plurality of audio source devices 109,and a storage device 110.

The audio source devices 109 may include a device that outputs sound,such as a radio receiver, a device that plays back and outputs audiodata recorded in a recording disk, such as a compact disk (CD) or adigital versatile disk (DVD), and/or a device such as a memory cardhaving audio data recorded therein.

The control unit 107 displays a menu screen on the display device 102.The menu screen receives a source change operation etc. in accordancewith a user's operation through the input device 101. In accordance withthe source change operation of the user received by the menu screen, thecontrol unit 107 selectively sets one of the audio source devices 109 orthe connected portable player 2 as a currently used audio source.Alternatively, audio data may be stored in the storage device 110, andthe storage device 110 may be set as the currently used audio source.

If the control unit 107 sets the audio source device 109 that outputssound as the currently used audio source, the media player 108 outputssound output from the audio source device 109 to the speaker 104 throughthe sound input/output device 105. If the control unit 107 sets an audiosource device 109 that outputs audio data as the currently used audiosource, the media player 108 plays back audio data output from the audiosource device 109 and outputs the playback sound to the speaker 104through the sound input/output device 105. If the control unit 107 setsan audio source device 109 having recorded therein audio data as thecurrently used audio source, the media player 108 reads the audio datarecorded in the audio source device 109, plays back the read audio data,and outputs the playback sound to the speaker 104 through the soundinput/output device 105. Also, if the control unit 107 sets the portableplayer 2 as the currently used audio source, the media player 108outputs the sound of the audio data received from the portable player 2through the device interface 106 to the speaker 104 through the soundinput/output device 105.

The control unit 107 displays a graphical user interface (GUI) screen onthe display device 102. The GUI screen is for displaying a playbackstate of the audio source device 109 or the portable player 2 set as thecurrently used audio source, and receiving a control operation for aplayback operation of the device set as the currently used audio source.The control unit 107 controls various operations of the audio sourcedevice 109 or the portable player 2 in accordance with a user operationreceived by the GUI screen, and playback and output operations of audiodata or sound of the media player 108. The control unit 107 performscontrol for various operations of the portable player 2 through thedevice interface 106.

The audio device 1 may use a computer including a central processingunit (CPU) and a memory in terms of hardware. In this case, the controlunit 107 and the media player 108 are provided when the computerexecutes predetermined computer programs.

The portable player 2 is a mobile device carried by the user. Asillustrated, the portable player 2 includes a storage unit 201, anoperation unit 202, a display 203, a microphone 204, a speaker 205, asound input/output unit 206 that inputs voice by using the microphone204 and outputs sound to the speaker 205, a host interface 207 that isan interface used for connection with the audio device 1, acommunication device 208, and an operating system 209 that is an OS ofthe portable player 2.

Also, the portable player 2 includes a player application 210 and otherapplications 211 as applications that are administered by the operatingsystem 209 and operate on the operating system 209.

The storage unit 201 of the portable player 2 stores an audio filestoring audio data of a song. If the portable player 2 is not connectedto the audio device 1, the player application 210 receives control by auser's operation on the user interface by using the display 203 and theoperation unit 202 through the operating system, and, for example, playsback the audio data of the audio file stored in the storage device 110.Also, if the portable player 2 is not connected to the audio device 1,the sound expressed by the audio data of the audio file stored in thestorage device 110 is output from the speaker 205 through the soundinput/output unit 206.

In contrast, if the portable player 2 is connected to the audio device1, the portable player 2 receives control from the audio device 1through the host interface 207 and the operating system 209, and, forexample, plays back the audio data of the audio file stored in thestorage device 110. Also, if the portable player 2 is connected to theaudio device 1, the audio data played back from the audio file stored inthe storage device 110 is transmitted to the audio device 1 through thehost interface 207. As described above, if the portable player 2 is setas the above-described currently used audio source, the media player 108of the audio device 1 outputs the sound of the audio data transmittedfrom the portable player 2 to the audio device 1 to the speaker 104through the sound input/output device 105.

The operating system 209 includes a voice recognition client 2091 thatreceives a voice input. The operating system 209 activates the voicerecognition client 2091 when the operating system 209 receives avoice-control request from the user through the operation unit 202. Theoperating system 209 passes voice data of generated voice of the userinput from the microphone 204 as input voice data to the voicerecognition client 2091. The voice recognition client 2091 is connectedto a voice recognition server 4 on a wide area network (WAN) 3 such asthe Internet through the communication device 208, and transmits a voicerecognition request accompanying the passed input voice data to thevoice recognition server 4. When the voice recognition server 4 receivesthe voice recognition request, it performs voice recognition for theinput voice data accompanying the voice recognition request and repliesto the voice recognition client 2091 about the voice recognition result.Then, the voice recognition client 2091, which has received the reply ofthe voice recognition result, replies to the operating system about avoice-control completion reply, and controls an operation of anapplication corresponding to the voice recognition result through theoperating system 209. The control for the operation of the applicationcorresponding to the voice recognition result contains control for aplayback operation of an audio file stored in the storage unit 201 ofthe player application 210.

The communication device 208 may be a wireless local-area network (LAN)interface for connection with a wireless LAN or a mobile communicationdevice for connection with a mobile communication network. If theportable player 2 is a smart phone having a mobile phone function, thecommunication device 208 is the mobile communication device, and theportable player 2 includes a mobile phone application for providing themobile phone function by using the mobile communication device, thesound input/output unit 206, and the operation unit 202, as theabove-described other application 211.

Also, the operating system 209 may include a voice recognition enginethat receives a voice input by solely performing voice recognition,instead of the voice recognition client 2091.

The host interface 207 of the portable player 2 and the device interface106 of the audio device 1 perform intercommunication through wirelessconnection by using a wireless communication interface, such asBluetooth (registered trademark) or Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi).

With this configuration, control voice reception processing performed bycontrol unit 107 of the audio device 1 while the portable player 2 isconnected to the audio device 1 is described below.

FIG. 2 shows the procedure of the control voice reception processing. Asillustrated, in this processing, the control unit 107 monitorsgeneration of a voice-control request operation by the user to the inputdevice 101 (step 2002). If the voice-control request operation isgenerated, the control unit 107 transmits a voice-control-functionactivation request to the portable player 2 through the device interface106 (step 2004).

The operating system 209 of the portable player 2, which has receivedthe voice-control-function activation request through the host interface207, activates the voice recognition client 2091. If the activation iscompleted, the operating system 209 replies to the audio device 1 with avoice-control-function effective reply.

Then, the control unit 107 monitors reception of thevoice-control-function effective reply (step 2006). If the control unit107 has received the voice-control-function effective reply, the controlunit 107 displays a predetermined voice-input reception screen (step2008), and urges the user to generate voice.

The voice-input reception screen may be displayed by displaying a screenprepared as the voice-input reception screen. If the portable player 2outputs the voice-input reception screen to the audio device 1 throughthe host interface 207 while the voice recognition client 2091 isoperated, the voice-input reception screen may be displayed bydisplaying the voice-input reception screen output from the portableplayer 2.

Then, the control unit 107 receives the input of the generated voicefrom the user through the microphone 103 and the sound input/outputdevice, and transmits voice data of the received generated voice to theportable player 2 through the device interface 106 (step 2010).

At this time, the operating system 209 of the portable player 2, whichhas received the transfer of the voice data from the audio device 1,passes the audio data transferred as the above-described input voicedata to the voice recognition client 2091. The voice recognition client2091 performs voice recognition for the above-described input voice dataand the control for the operation of the application corresponding tothe voice recognition result through the operating system 209. The voicerecognition client 2091 replies to the operating system with avoice-control completion reply. The operating system 209, which hasreceived the reply, replies to the audio device 1 with the voice-controlcompletion reply through the host interface 207.

The control unit 107 monitors reception of the voice-control completionreply (step 2012). If the control unit 107 receives the voice-controlcompletion reply, the control unit 107 returns the display of thedisplay device 102 to the display before the display of the voice-inputreception screen (step 2014).

Then, a timer having a predetermined time-out period (for example, fiveseconds) is started (step 2016). The playback state of the playerapplication 210 of the portable player 2 is monitored (step 2018, 2020),until start of the playback operation of the player application 210 ofthe portable player 2 is detected (step 2022) or until the time-out ofthe timer occurs (step 2024).

The playback state of the player application 210 of the portable player2 is monitored by repeating processing of transmitting a playback-statequery to the portable player 2 through the device interface 106 (step2018) and receiving a playback-state reply for the query (step 2020).

If the operating system 209 of the portable player 2 receives theplayback-state query from the audio device 1, the operating system 209acquires the current playback state of the player application 210, andtransmits the playback state as a playback-state reply to the audiodevice 1 through the host interface 207. The playback state to bereplied as the playback-state reply contains playback/non-playback ofthe audio data of the audio file of the player application 210, aplayback time position of the current audio data during playback (anelapsed time since a playback time at the beginning of the audio data),and identification of the audio file during playback.

Also, the start of the playback operation of the player application 210of the portable player 2 is detected in step 2022 by detecting the startof the playback operation of the player application 210 of the portableplayer 2 when the playback state expressed by the playback-state replyreceived in step 2020 is changed from “non-playback of audio data” to“playback of audio data.”

If the time-out of the timer occurs (step 2024), the processing returnsto the processing from step 2002.

If the start of the playback operation of the player application 210 ofthe portable player 2 is detected (step 2022) before the time-out of thetimer occurs (step 2024), it is checked whether the currently used audiosource is the portable player 2 or not (step 2026). If the currentlyused audio source is the portable player 2, the processing returns tothe processing from step 2002.

In contrast, when the start of the playback operation of the playerapplication 210 of the portable player 2 is detected (step 2022) beforethe time-out of the timer occurs (step 2024), if the currently usedaudio source is not the portable player 2 (step 2026), the currentlyused audio source is changed to the portable player 2 (step 2028).

Then, a cue command (a command for searching the beginning) of theplayback audio data is transmitted to the portable player 2 through thedevice interface 106 (step 2030), and the processing returns to theprocessing at step 2002.

In this case, the operating system 209 of the portable player 2, whichhas received the cue command from the audio device 1 through the hostinterface 207 causes the player application 210 to start playback fromthe beginning of the audio data during playback by controlling theplayback time position of the audio data of the player application 210to the beginning of the audio data during playback.

The control voice reception processing performed by the control unit 107has been described above.

Step 2030 of the control voice reception processing may be processing oftransmitting a playback-time-position change command for returning theplayback time position toward the past for a predetermined period, tothe portable player 2. In this case, the operating system 209 of theportable player 2, which has received the playback-time-position changecommand from the audio device 1, causes the player application 210 tostart playback from a playback time position before the current playbacktime position of the audio data during playback for the predeterminedperiod, by performing the control of shifting the playback time positionof the audio data of the player application 210 toward the past for thepredetermined period. This predetermined period may be a timecorresponding to a playback time position indicated by a playback stateexpressed by a playback-state reply received last time, or may be a timeexpected as an elapsed time since a time at which playback of the playerapplication 210 of the portable player 2, the start of which ispreviously determined and detected in step 424, is actually started, tothe current point. Even with this configuration, the playback timeposition of the audio data of the player application 210 can be shiftedto the beginning of the audio data during playback.

An operation example of the above-described control voice receptionprocessing is described below.

As shown in FIG. 3, in a state in which playback is not performed by theaudio application of the portable player 2, when a voice-control requestoperation (301) is performed by a user, the audio device 1 transmits avoice-control-function activation request (302) to the portable player2. The portable player 2, which has received the voice-control-functionactivation request (302) activates the voice recognition client 2091(303), and replies to the audio device 1 with a voice-control-functioneffective reply (304).

The audio device 1, which has received the voice-control-functioneffective reply (304), displays a voice-input reception screen (305),and urges the user to generate voice.

If the user generates voice for requesting playback (for example, “startplayback”) (306), the audio device 1 transfers voice data (307) of thegenerated voice to the portable player 2. The portable player 2, whichhas received the transfer of the voice data, performs voice recognition(308) of the transferred voice data. When the voice recognition iscompleted, the portable player 2 transmits a voice-control completionreply (309) to the audio device 1. Also, since the content of the voicedata as the result of the voice recognition is the request for playback,the portable player 2 starts control for the start of playback of theplayer application 210 (310).

The audio device 1, which has received the voice-control completionreply (309), returns the display of the display device 102 to a displaybefore the display of the voice-input reception screen (310), and startsthe timer (311).

Then, the audio device 1 starts monitoring (312) of the playback stateof the player application 210 of the portable player 2. The audio device1 repeats transmission of a playback-state query (41, 43, 45), andreception of a playback-state reply (42, 44, 46).

If the portable player 2 starts playback of an audio file of a song X ofthe player application 210 (313) by the control (310), the portableplayer 2 changes the playback state expressed by the playback-statereply from “non-playback” (42, 44) to “playback” (46). Then, the audiodevice 1, during the monitoring (312), detects the start of the playbackoperation of the player application 210 of the portable player 2 (47) bythe change from “non-playback” to “playback” of the playback stateexpressed by the playback-state reply.

If the start of the playback operation is detected, and if the currentlyused audio source is not the portable player 2, the audio device 1changes the currently used audio source to the portable player 2 (314).Consequently, the sound of the audio data output from the portableplayer 2 is output from the speaker 104 of the audio device 1.

Then, the audio device 1 transmits a cue command (315) to the portableplayer 2. The player application 210 of the portable player 2, which hasreceived the cue command (315) from the audio device 1, shifts theplayback position of the audio data of the song X during playback to thebeginning (316), and starts playback from the beginning of the song X.

Consequently, the audio data from the beginning of the song X is outputfrom the portable player 2 to the audio device 1 (317). The sound fromthe beginning of the song X is output from the speaker 104 of the audiodevice 1 (318).

If the voice (306) generated by the user is not the voice for requestingplayback, during the monitoring (312), the change from “non-playback” to“playback” of the playback state expressed by the playback-state replydoes not occur, and the start of the playback operation is not detected.During the monitoring (312), the time-out of the started timer (311)occurs, the currently used audio source is not changed, and the soundoutput state of the audio device 1 is maintained in a state at the timeof the generation of the voice-control request operation (301).

Also, when the user performs the voice-control request operation (301),even if the playback state of the portable player 2 is “playback,” theplayback state expressed by the playback-state reply is not changed from“non-playback” to “playback” during the monitoring (312), and the startof the playback operation is not detected. During the monitoring (312),the time-out of the started timer (311) occurs, the currently used audiosource is not changed, and the setting of the currently used audiosource is maintained in a state at the time of the generation of thevoice-control request operation (301).

An embodiment of the invention has been described. As described above,with this embodiment, in the audio device 1, the output of the playbacksound of the portable player 2 to the user can be properly started inthe audio device 1 only when the received voice generated by the user isfor performing voice control for starting playback of the portableplayer 2. Also, the playback sound of the portable player 2 may beoutput to the user by the audio device 1 from the beginning of the song.Accordingly, the audio device 1 can perform an operation that matchesthe control content by the voice control of the portable player 2.

In the control voice reception processing in the above-describedembodiment, the portable player 2 starts monitoring of the playbackstate of the player application 210 of the portable player 2 for thepredetermined period after the voice-control completion reply isreceived, with regard to that it takes a time of about several secondsafter the voice recognition of the voice for requesting the playbackuntil the playback is started. However, if the portable player 2 startsthe playback immediately after the voice recognition of the voice forrequesting the playback, the start of the playback operation of theplayer application 210 of the portable player 2 may be detected asfollows. That is, in step 2010, before the voice data is transferred tothe portable player 2, the playback-state query is transmitted to theportable player 2, and the playback state before the voice control isdetected from the playback-state reply provided from the portable player2. If the detected playback state before the voice control is“playback,” the display state returns (step 2014) in response to thereception of the voice-control completion reply (step 2012), and theprocessing returns to the processing from step 2002. In contrast, if thedetected playback state before the voice control is “non-playback,” thedisplay state returns (step 2014) in response to the reception of thevoice-control completion reply (step 2012), then the processing goes tostep 2016 and later, and the monitoring of the playback state of theplayer application 210 of the portable player 2 for the predeterminedperiod is started (steps 2016-2024). In step 2022, if the playback statereply expressing the playback state indicating “playback” is receivedwithin the predetermined period, the start of the playback operation ofthe player application 210 of the portable player 2 is detected, and theprocessing goes to step 2026.

In the above-described embodiment, audio is played back by the voicecontrol. However, even in a case in which the portable player 2 playsback video by voice control, the audio device 1 may be applied if theaudio device 1 serves as an audiovisual (AV) device that performs anoperation of the audio device 1 by replacing audio with video.

While there has been illustrated and described what is at presentcontemplated to be preferred embodiments of the present invention, itwill be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes andmodifications may be made, and equivalents may be substituted forelements thereof without departing from the true scope of the invention.In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particularsituation to the teachings of the invention without departing from thecentral scope thereof. Therefore, it is intended that this invention notbe limited to the particular embodiments disclosed, but that theinvention will include all embodiments falling within the scope of theappended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An audio device, a portable player beingconnectable to the audio device, the portable player being controllableby voice control, the audio device comprising: a sound output unit thatoutputs sound, the sound source of which is a currently used audiosource; a source selection unit that selectively sets one of a pluralityof audio source devices as the currently used audio source; amicrophone; and a control voice processing unit, wherein, if theportable player is connected, the source selection unit causes theportable player to be included in the plurality of audio source devicesas one of the audio source devices, and selectively sets one of theplurality of audio source devices including the portable player as thecurrently used audio source, wherein, if the portable player is set asthe currently used audio source, the sound output unit outputs sound tobe transferred to the audio device from the portable player, and whereinthe control voice processing unit, if the portable player is connected,transfers voice data of generated voice input from the microphone to theportable player, and causes the portable player to perform voice controlby the voice of the voice data transferred to the portable player, andacquires a state of the portable player after the voice control isperformed from the portable player, determines whether or not a playbackoperation of the portable player is started by the voice control, and ifthe playback operation of the portable player is started by the voicecontrol, causes the source selection unit to set the portable player asthe currently used audio source, whereas if the voice control does notstart the playback operation of the portable player, the currently usedaudio source is not changed.
 2. The audio device according to claim 1,wherein the control voice processing unit acquires a playback state ofthe portable player as the state after the voice control is performedfrom the portable player, determines whether or not a playback operationof the portable player is started by the voice control, and if theplayback operation of the portable player is started, causes the sourceselection unit to set the portable player as the currently used audiosource.
 3. The audio device according to claim 2, wherein the controlvoice processing unit determines that the playback operation of theportable player is started by the voice control if the playbackoperation of the portable player is started within a predeterminedperiod after the control voice processing unit causes the portableplayer to perform the voice control.
 4. The audio device according toclaim 2, wherein the control voice processing unit determines that theplayback operation of the portable player is started by the voicecontrol if the playback state of the portable player is changed fromnon-playback to playback within a predetermined period after the controlvoice processing unit causes the portable player to perform the voicecontrol.
 5. The audio device according to claim 2, wherein the controlvoice processing unit controls start of playback of the portable playerfrom the beginning of an audio content during playback by the portableplayer, if the playback operation of the portable player is started bythe voice control.
 6. The audio device according to claim 2, wherein thecontrol voice processing unit controls the portable player to startplayback of an audio content during playback by the portable player froma playback time position which is shifted by a predetermined time towardthe beginning from a current playback time position of the audiocontent, if the playback operation of the portable player is started bythe voice control.
 7. A storage device storing a predetermined computerprogram that is read and executed by a computer including a microphone,a portable player being connectable to the computer, the portable playerbeing controllable by voice control, wherein the computer program causesthe computer to function as a sound output unit that outputs sound, thesound source of which is a currently used audio source, a sourceselection unit that selectively sets one of a plurality of audio sourcedevices as the currently used audio source, and a control voiceprocessing unit, wherein, if the portable player is connected, thesource selection unit causes the portable player to be included in theplurality of audio source devices as one of the audio source devices,and selectively sets one of the plurality of audio source devicesincluding the portable player as the currently used audio source,wherein, if the portable player is set as the currently used audiosource, the sound output unit outputs sound to be transferred to anaudio device from the portable player, and wherein the control voiceprocessing unit, if the portable player is connected, transfers voicedata of generated voice input from the microphone to the portableplayer, and causes the portable player to perform voice control by thevoice of the voice data transferred to the portable player, and acquiresa state of the portable player after the voice control is performed fromthe portable player, determines whether or not a playback operation ofthe portable player is started by the voice control, and if the playbackoperation of the portable player is started by the voice control, causesthe source selection unit to set the portable player as the currentlyused audio source, whereas if the voice control does not start theplayback operation of the portable player, the currently used audiosource is not changed.
 8. The storage device storing the computerprogram according to claim 7, wherein the control voice processing unitacquires a playback state of the portable player as the state after thevoice control is performed from the portable player, determines whetheror not a playback operation of the portable player is started by thevoice control, and if the playback operation of the portable player isstarted, causes the source selection unit to set the portable player asthe currently used audio source.
 9. The storage device storing thecomputer program according to claim 8, wherein the control voiceprocessing unit determines that the playback operation of the portableplayer is started by the voice control if the playback operation of theportable player is started within a predetermined period after thecontrol voice processing unit causes the portable player to perform thevoice control.
 10. The storage device storing the computer programaccording to claim 8, wherein the control voice processing unitdetermines that the playback operation of the portable player is startedby the voice control if the playback state of the portable player ischanged from non-playback to playback within a predetermined periodafter the control voice processing unit causes the portable player toperform the voice control.
 11. The storage device storing the computerprogram according to claim 8, wherein the control voice processing unitcontrols start of playback of the portable player from the beginning ofan audio content during playback by the portable player, if the playbackoperation of the portable player is started by the voice control. 12.The storage device storing the computer program according to claim 8,wherein the control voice processing unit controls the portable playerto start playback of an audio content during playback by the portableplayer from a playback time position which is shifted by a predeterminedtime toward the beginning from a current playback time position of theaudio content, if the playback operation of the portable player isstarted by the voice control.
 13. A storage device storing apredetermined computer program that is read and executed by a computerincluding a microphone, a portable player being connectable to thecomputer, the portable player being controllable by voice control,wherein the computer program causes the computer to function as acontent output unit that outputs a content, the source of which is acurrently used content source, a source selection unit that selectivelysets one of a plurality of content source devices as the currently usedcontent source, and a control voice processing unit, wherein, if theportable player is connected, the source selection unit causes theportable player to be included in the plurality of content sourcedevices as one of the content source devices, and selectively sets oneof the plurality of content source devices including the portable playeras the currently used content source, wherein, if the portable player isset as the currently used content source, the content output unitoutputs a content to be transferred to the content output device fromthe portable player, and wherein the control voice processing unit, ifthe portable player is connected, transfers voice data of generatedvoice input from the microphone to the portable player, and causes theportable player to perform voice control by the voice of the voice datatransferred to the portable player, and acquires a playback state of theportable player as a state after the voice control is performed from theportable player, determines whether or not a playback operation of theportable player is started by the voice control, and if the playbackoperation of the portable player is started by the voice control, causesthe source selection unit to set the portable player as the currentlyused content source, whereas if the voice control does not start theplayback operation of the portable player, the currently used audiosource is not changed.
 14. The storage device storing the computerprogram according to claim 13, wherein the content is a video content.